Why Hire a Design-Build Firm

Architects are amazing.  Their training and licensing requirements make for a skill set that serves society in profound ways, and I celebrate the contribution of their vocation to the advancement of humanity.

I lead with that statement before someone thinks that I'm disparaging architects in the remainder of this blog post.  I'm not.  But since we are a design-build firm, we have built many additions, outbuildings, studios, even entire luxury homes, with little or no help from an architect.  Frankly, it's fine with us either way, but we would love to defer to architects to design the bridges, dams, and skyscrapers, and let us handle the kitchens and living rooms.  I know many of our clients are better for it.  Think we're bananas?   Please, read on for the three reasons why you should hire a design-build firm:

1. Architects draw -- Builders build.  It's the old comparison that the salty veterans make in every discipline, that you can get a theorist or you can get someone who has been on the field.  In the building world, the most practical example happens when you have an architect design something beautiful that hits a bump with the planning department or a structural engineer.  Paying these people to work it out is costly.  We often have a design in mind because we have built it before, or we go straight to an engineer with a practical mix of ideas, and we ask the engineer how to stand it up.  We have insight on building difficulties that we can discuss with the engineer, or HOAs and their requirements, and by the time the engineer stamps the plans, we have saved our client lots of time and money in planning, construction, inspections, and maintenance.
2. We value engineer throughout.  Architects often choose the finest materials and the most glorious designs.  We applaud that behavior, and admire the spirit.  But what often comes to light is that there are combinations of materials, appliances, and fixtures that either exceed the sum of the parts, or that provide additional flexibility or value down the road.  We understand the longevity of materials or building methods from a more practical standpoint, and we are ultimately responsible for repairs if the design fails later on.  That set of circumstances creates a different kind of stake that usually aligns with the client's investment very well.
3. Your rights.  If you commission a custom residence and decide later on that you want to make an alteration, you may be surprised to find that the architect owns the copyright to those plans, and that you have to license them, even though you paid for them in the first place.  Seems strange, doesn't it?  While cases vary from state to state and firm to firm, the architect typically owns the copyright of a set of plans, and to alter them is infringement.  The owner of a Frank Lloyd Wright can not so much as hang a painting on the wall, and while this is the most extreme example, the buyer must beware of violating an architect's copyrights before doing simple things like changing a kitchen windows or eliminating the built-in for a rear projection TV.

We've never designed a bridge, or a municipal building, or a sports complex, and don't add efficiencies to the process of building something quite that grand.  But when it comes to adding a wing on your residence, or putting a guest unit in above your garage, or designing and building a pool and cabana, it's hard to compare our value and execution, and we will be with you at the finish line.
 
- Jon Leon Guerrero